Peloton Wealth Strategists Has $7.82 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Peloton Wealth Strategists increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,499 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.2% of Peloton Wealth Strategists’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Peloton Wealth Strategists’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 19,638 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,912 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,750,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 223,671 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $94,103,000 after buying an additional 5,456 shares during the period. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,877 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 197,829 shares of company stock valued at $80,966,837. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $421.11 and a 200-day moving average of $425.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $362.90 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.03.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.